Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Universities: Admissions

Lord Livermore: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what percentage of applications to Russell Group universities came from pupils from state comprehensive schools in each of the last 10 years.

Lord Livermore: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what percentage of admissions to Russell Group universities were of pupils from state comprehensive schools in each of the last 10 years.

Lord Livermore: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what percentage of graduates from Russell Group universities came from state comprehensive schools in each of the last 10 years.

Baroness Evans of Bowes Park: Information on the percentage of applications to Russell Group Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) coming from state comprehensive schools is held by the University and Colleges Admissions Services, rather than Government.The proportion of young full-time first degree entrants coming from state schools over the past ten years is set out in the table below: Percentage of UK-domiciled young (1) full-time first degree entrants from state schoolsEnglish Higher Education InstitutionsAcademic Years 2005/06 to 2014/15   Academic YearAll Russell Group HEIs in England (2)All English HEIs2005/06 (3)72.90%86.90%2006/0772.60%87.20%2007/0873.30%87.40%2008/0973.30%88.00%2009/1072.90%88.40%2010/1172.60%88.20%2011/1272.50%88.50%2012/1374.10%89.00%2013/1475.50%89.40%2014/1575.80%89.60%   Source: HESA Performance IndicatorsNotes: (1) Young students are those younger than 21 at 30 September in the academic year in which they commenced their studies (2) The Russell Group HEIs included are all those that were part of the Russell Group on April 13th 2016 (3) Data for 2005/06 excludes the University of Cambridge due to a change in its data recording for that academic year Statistics on the percentage of graduating students who came from state schools is not publicly available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister announced in January 2016 that the Government intends to legislate to require individual universities to publish statistical information on application, offer and progression rates broken down by gender, class and ethnicity in order to make each institution’s record on diversity more transparent.

Department for Education

Children's Play: Disability

Lord Judd: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to ensure that developmental play services, including Portage, are a statutory service for disabled children under the age of two.

Lord Nash: The Government recognises that play has an important role in supporting all young children to develop and prepare for later learning and a child’s experiences in their first five years have a major impact on their future life chances. This is covered in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework for children from birth to five years of age.The commissioning of support services for disabled children, such as Portage, is a decision for local authorities. Each local authority should consider the needs of its population, in collaboration with parent carers and early years providers, to ensure that support services in the area reflect local circumstances and need. The Children and Families Act requires all local authorities to publish a ‘local offer’, setting out in one place information about provision they expect to be available in their area across education, health and social care for children in their area who are disabled or have SEN, including those who do not have EHC plans. This should include details of any Portage services that are available for children aged 0 to 5 years.The Department recognises the importance of Portage and has provided £150,000 to the National Portage Association through the voluntary and community sector (VCS) grants for 2015-16. The National Portage Association has been using their funding to build on existing grant-funded work to support and develop Portage services.

Academies: Curriculum

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of their plans to make all schools convert to academy status, what will be the status of the National Curriculum after those conversions.

Lord Nash: In 2014, we introduced a new, more ambitious national curriculum which was developed to reflect the views of subject experts and teachers and the findings of international best practice comparisons. An academised system means that the national curriculum will become a benchmark. It will serve an important role in setting out the level of knowledge-based, ambitious, academically rigorous education which every child should experience. If autonomous academies or multi-academy trusts (MATs) wish to deliver the national curriculum in their schools, they can do so confidently. We want academies to use their freedom to innovate and build more stretching curricula to meet the needs of their pupils or their local area or the particular ethos of the school.

Social Services: Children

Lord Black of Brentwood: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what criteria they apply, and what circumstances they take into account, in deciding whether to appoint a Commissioner to take over the running of a local authority’s children’s service.

Lord Black of Brentwood: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many Commissioners have been appointed to run local authority children’s services since January 2015.

Lord Nash: Commissioners are appointed where Ofsted find persistent or systemic failure by a council to deliver children’s services to an acceptable quality. Persistent failure is defined as a council being rated inadequate more than once within a five year period. Systemic failure is defined as a council being rated inadequate across the board on all key Ofsted judgements. Commissioners are appointed to direct the improvement of children’s social care services; the Council’s leadership and management of them; and, increasingly, to review whether these services should be removed from council control in order to secure more rapid and sustainable improvement. Since January 2015 the Secretary of State has appointed five Children’s Services Commissioners.

Social Services: Children

Lord Black of Brentwood: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they have taken to consult family members and children in the London Borough of Lambeth about their experience of children’s services in the Borough.

Lord Nash: As part of Ofsted’s inspection of children’s social care services in Lambeth (reported on 12 May 2015), Ofsted met with children, young people, parents, carers, care leavers and Lambeth’s Children in Care Council, who provided direct evidence about their experiences of Lambeth’s children’s services.Ofsted inspectors also talk to young people as part of bi-annual visits to children’s homes; and take children’s and parents’ views as part of an annual survey of all children’s homes and fostering agencies. These surveys inform Ofsted’s lines of enquiry for subsequent inspections and decisions about the timing of inspections.The independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, led by the Hon. Dame Lowell Goddard DNZM, is taking evidence from those affected by child sexual abuse in Lambeth.

Culture: Education

Baroness Nye: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Lord Nash on 15 March (HL Deb, cols 1726–8), what is their definition of cultural subjects.

Lord Nash: The Department for Education does not have a formal definition of cultural subjects. Many subjects, such as music, drama, art and design, dance, history and English literature, all include cultural elements.

Studio Schools

Lord Watson of Invergowrie: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many Studio Schools currently exist in the UK; how many of those schools are standalone; and how many of those schools have closed.

Lord Nash: 40 studio schools are currently open. Of these nine are standalone academies. Seven studio schools have closed since 2013, of which three were standalone and the remainder were in multi-academy trusts.

Home Education

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to increase oversight of or the level of responsibility in home-schooling in the light of the 40 per cent rise in home-schooled students of secondary-school age over the last three years.

Lord Nash: I refer the Lord Storey to the answer to parliamentary question HL6799, submitted to Parliament on 14 March 2016, which states that:“Some local authorities maintain voluntary registers of children educated at home but as they have no statutory basis, they cannot be regarded as an authoritative source of data.”We continue to receive representations from local authorities and other stakeholders on this subject, but at present the responsibilities of parents and local authorities remain as in previous years.

Ministry of Defence

RAF Leuchars

Lord Campbell of Pittenweem: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have (1) commissioned, or (2) undertaken, an impact assessment on the local economy of the departure of RAF personnel from Leuchars.

Earl Howe: There has not been an impact assessment commissioned or undertaken by the Ministry of Defence.

Military Bases: Scotland

Lord Campbell of Pittenweem: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whetherthe Base Optimisation Programme in Scotland has been completed.

Earl Howe: The Basing Optimisation Programme considered the tri-service basing and infrastructure requirements from the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2010. In terms of detailed planning and implementation the programme is being delivered through separate projects which are expected to continue until 2021.As part of the comprehensive Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 the Ministry of Defence committed to reducing our estate by 30%. The plan for this is due to be announced later this year but so far my hon. Friend the Minister for Defence Personnel and Veterans (Mark Lancaster) has already announced this year the disposal of 22 sites.

Destroyers

Lord West of Spithead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further tothe Written Answer by Earl Howe on 23 March (HL6981), whether they can confirm that the date by which all six destroyers will be fully operational is still unknown.

Lord West of Spithead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 23 March (HL6981), whether the money necessary to make all the destroyers operational will come from the First Sea Lord's budget or from the reserve or contingency funds.

Earl Howe: All Type 45 Destroyers remain in the operational cycle and continue to be routinely deployed. The Type 45 power and propulsion improvement programme is currently considering a number of technical options and delivery models with competing industrial partners. The programme is not yet mature enough to confirm when the equipment upgrade will be completed. Funding for the Type 45 power and propulsion improvement programme is to be contained within the budget allocated to Navy Command.

Merchant Shipping

Lord West of Spithead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have made an assessment of the number of UK merchant seamen, officers and men required to man the Royal Fleet Auxiliary and other merchant shipping taken up from trade in time of national emergency or war.

Earl Howe: Should extra capability or capacity be required at a time of national emergency or war, as has been the case in the past, the Ministry of Defence would charter suitable merchant ships from the commercial market. The extent of such a requirement would of course depend on the nature of the circumstances faced.

Warships

Lord West of Spithead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 23 March (HL7103), why HMS Dauntless and HMS Lancaster are being placed alongside if there are sufficient people, spares and logistics support to run the Royal Navy.

Earl Howe: HMS DAUNTLESS entered the engineering training ship programme in February this year. Engineer training ships, generally in a period prior to undergoing a refit or an upgrade, are used to deliver training and provide accommodation alongside.HMS LANCASTER is presently alongside in Portsmouth and is being maintained with a minimal crew onboard until her refit. The Royal Navy has determined that HMS LANCASTER is not required as a training platform ahead of her refit, therefore a number of her crew have been redeployed in support of operational units and tasks.Such planned programming enables the Royal Navy to optimise the use of its ships and personnel through the operational cycles.

HMS Queen Elizabeth

Lord West of Spithead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the date for first entry into Portsmouth of HMS Queen Elizabeth has been decided, and if so, what it is.

Earl Howe: Construction of both HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH and HMS PRINCE OF WALES is progressing in Rosyth. The date for first entry into Portsmouth of HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH will be confirmed once the current testing and commissioning has been completed in Rosyth and once contractor-led sea trials have progressed. These trials are planned to complete in 2017.

Department for Work and Pensions

Social Security Benefits: Carers

Baroness King of Bow: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have notified full-time carers affected by the benefit cap of their decision toexempt such claimants following the High Court judgment against the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.

Lord Freud: We will be writing to claimants potentially affected by the planned changes to the benefit cap in the coming months, ahead of the launch of the new benefit cap levels from the Autumn. These notifications will include details of the forthcoming exemptions. We are also working with stakeholder organisations to support them to share information with affected carers.

Housing Benefit: Carers

Baroness King of Bow: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to instruct local authorities to ensure that Discretionary Housing Payments are awarded to full-time carers affected by the benefit cap until their exemptions are implemented.

Lord Freud: It is important that local authorities are allowed to use their discretion to ensure Discretionary Housing Payments are awarded to those who most require assistance based on local circumstances. We have, however, amended the Discretionary Housing Payments Local Authority Good Practice Guide to reflect that those entitled to Carer’s Allowance or Universal Credit including the carer element should be considered as a priority group for whom Discretionary Housing Payments are specifically aimed.

Food Poverty

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Freud on 22 March (HL6812) about state benefits, why they have not made an assessment of the percentage of food poverty or insecurity that is caused by state benefits being used for purposes other than to provide necessities; and whether they will now carry one out.

Lord Freud: Food poverty is the inability of individuals and households to obtain an adequate and nutritious diet, often because they cannot afford healthy food or there is a lack of shops in their area that are easy to reach. There is no single commonly agreed method for accurately measuring the extent of food poverty. Given these challenges we do not think that it would be worth the Department commissioning such research.

Home Office

Police and Crime Commissioners: Elections

Lord Condon: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many of the current Police and Crime Commissioners are standing for re-election in May.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: Twenty seven of forty current police and crime commissioners (PCCs) for police force areas where ordinary PCC elections are taking place this May are standing for re-election.This excludes Greater London, where the elected mayor exercises PCC functions in respect of the Metropolitan Police, and Greater Manchester, where the ordinary PCC election has been cancelled to pave the way for the transfer of PCC functions to an elected mayor in May 2017, with the term of the current PCC extended to that point.

Refugees: Syria

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Keen of Elie on 12 April (HL7328), whether they are on track to fulfil their pledge to accept 20,000 refugees to the UK before the end of the present Parliament.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: We are continuing to work productively with local authorities and International Partners to deliver the Government’s target to settle 20,000 Syrian refugees by the end of this Parliament.The Home Office is committed to publishing data in an orderly way as part of the regular quarterly Immigration Statistics, in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. The last set of statistics, published on 25 February 2016 showed that in 2015, 1,194 Syrians were relocated to the UK under the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement scheme, including 1,085 who arrived in the last quarter of 2015.These numbers will be updated each quarter. The next set of figures will be in the quarterly release on 26 May 2016 and will cover the period January – March 2016.

Cabinet Office

Israel: Overseas Trade

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's guidance Overseas Business Risk – The Occupied Palestinian Territories, what advice they have given to local councils and other public bodies on (1) trade with businesses in the state of Israel, (2) trade with businesses in the Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs), (3) trade with Israeli companies that also work in the Israeli settlements in the OPTs, and (4) trade with any company from the UK that also has contracts in the Israeli settlements in the OPTs.

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they will respond to question HL6501, about trade with Israel, tabled on 26 February.

Lord Bridges of Headley: On 17 February, the Government published procurement guidance for public authorities that makes clear that boycotts in public procurement are inappropriate and may be illegal outside where formal legal sanctions, embargoes and restrictions have been put in place by the UK Government. It is general guidance for public authorities on contracting with suppliers from WTO countries.

Ministers' Private Offices

Lord Tebbit: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bridges of Headley on 16 March (HL6552), how they define an "extended Ministerial Office", and for what purpose they are being established.

Lord Bridges of Headley: Guidance on the nature and make up of extended ministerial offices (EMO) is set out in guidance published by the Government. The Guidance makes clear that EMOs are designed to support Secretaries of State and other Ministerial Heads of Departments. An EMO may include civil servants fulfilling the traditional private office role, special advisers and external appointees. The office may include support for policy formation, implementation, media, correspondence, relations with Parliament, as well as the traditional private office function.



Guidance Attachment
(PDF Document, 92.24 KB)

Department of Health

Departmental Records

Baroness Featherstone: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the 10 year rule that is given as the reason that Lord Owen's and Lord Jenkin of Roding's ministerial papers in regard to contaminated blood were destroyed.

Lord Prior of Brampton: We do not recognise that a ten year rule has been established for the destruction of records created by ministers. The Department works to the guidance published by The National Archives on the appraisal and selection of official records which are retained and transferred for permanent preservation.

Maternity Services

Lord Sharkey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government which commercial organisations are permitted to promote or distribute their products or the products of other organisations in NHS maternity wards; what revenues accrue to the Government or the NHS from that activity; and what evidence there is that patients welcome such activity.

Lord Sharkey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the nature and extent of the relationship, including financial arrangements, between HMRC and Bounty, between NHS England and Bounty, and between NHS Foundation Trusts and NHS Trusts and Bounty.

Lord Prior of Brampton: National Health Service trusts may negotiate locally with commercial organisations to distribute advice, information and ‘try before you buy’ samples that they think would be useful for pregnant women. Neither the Department nor NHS England centrally have any contracts with Bounty or influence over the contents of the packs nor does the Department benefit financially from such arrangements. We do not have any information about what contracts might exist between Bounty and individual NHS trusts. Although we are aware of Bounty distributing their packs on maternity wards, we have no evidence of whether or not this is welcomed by parents. Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) use the services of Bounty to help distribute Child Benefit claim packs to new mothers in NHS hospitals. The contract for this service is held by HMRC’s Print Vendor Provider, Williams Lea. Using the Bounty pack as one channel for distributing Child Benefit forms has proved efficient and cost effective. The Child Benefit form can also be obtained through other channels, notably the HMRC website. In 2012-13, HMRC paid £85,990.27 (excluding VAT) for Bounty to distribute a total of 857,939 English and Welsh language claim forms.

Choice in End of Life Care Review

Lord Wills: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they plan to respond to the recommendations set out in What’s important to me: A review of choice in end of life care, also known as the Choice Review.

Lord Wills: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to ensure that high quality end of life care is available in every setting, including for people who wish to die at home.

Lord Wills: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the conclusion by Professor Bee Wee, National Clinical Director for End of Life Care, in theNational Survey of Patient Activity Data for Specialist Palliative Care Services MDS Summary Report for the year 2013–14,that "there is still a need to improve the quality and use of data in the palliative care sector"; and what action they are taking to address that issue.

Lord Wills: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to ensure that everyone at the end of life has a personalised care plan, with their choices recorded on an Electronic Palliative Care Co-ordination System or equivalent system.

Lord Wills: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to ensure that Electronic Palliative Care Co-ordination Systems, or equivalent systems, can be viewed and updated by all those involved in the provision of end of life care services, in particular social care organisations, by April 2018, as outlined in the reviewWhat’s important to me: A review of choice in end of life care.

Lord Wills: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress they have made in ensuring that each person in need of end of life care is offered a care co-ordinator who would be their first point of contact for all their care at the end of life, as recommended in the review What's important to me: A review of choice in end of life care.

Lord Wills: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the recommendation in the reviewWhat's important to me: A review of choice in end of life care, that greater joint working between palliative care specialists and other clinical staff, and between secondary care and primary care staff, is important in order to identify people who may need end of life care as early as possible; and what action they are taking to implement that recommendation.

Lord Wills: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress they have made in ensuring that family members, carers and others important to an individual at the end of their life are involved in discussions about personal choices and care preferences.

Lord Prior of Brampton: We are committed to ensuring that everyone at, or nearing, the end of life receives high quality, compassionate care, tailored to their individual needs and preferences. The Government’s forthcoming response to the independent Review of Choice in End of Life Care, which will be published shortly, will set out our vision for high quality, personalised care and the steps we will take to achieve this. The response will also address each of the Review recommendations, including on care coordination; improving the quality, availability and responsiveness of care; improving the quality and use of data; care planning and the use of digital care records; and the involvement of family members and carers in discussions about care.

Human Papillomavirus: Vaccination

Lord Black of Brentwood: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the successful tender for the procurement of the human papilloma virus vaccine will be announced.

Lord Prior of Brampton: Following the conclusion of the contract for the human papilloma virus vaccine, information on the award will be placed in the public domain by way of a notice in the Official Journal of the European Union, and a copy of the contract published on the Contracts Finder website at: www.gov.uk/contracts-finder. We expect to publish both of these by the end of April 2016.

Pharmacy

Lord Mawhinney: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how often the storage mechanisms and substance of patients' confidential and private information held by pharmacies in the retail sector is examined by or on behalf of the General Pharmaceutical Council; and what percentage of examinations are unacceptable.

Lord Mawhinney: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how often the physical and governance arrangements which ensure that patients can have private conversations with pharmaceutical staff, in the retail sector, are examined by or on behalf of the General Pharmaceutical Council and what percentage of examinations are unacceptable.

Lord Mawhinney: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many pharmacies in the retail sector have been (1) reprimanded, and (2) sanctioned, by the General Pharmaceutical Council, in the last three years, for breaching patient confidentiality.

Lord Mawhinney: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many pharmacies in the retail sector have been (1) reprimanded, and (2) sanctioned, by the General Pharmaceutical Council, in the last three years, for breaching patient privacy.

Lord Mawhinney: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many pharmacies in the retail sector have been (1) reprimanded, and (2) sanctioned, by the General Pharmaceutical Council, in the last three years, for breaching patient dignity.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The Department does not hold this information. However, the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has provided the following information. The GPhC undertakes inspections of all registered pharmacies in Great Britain. The vast majority of pharmacies currently receive a routine inspection every three to four years. Inspectors will, in addition, visit pharmacies to investigate concerns from members of the public or health professionals. Since November 2013 the GPhC has conducted 6,814 routine inspections of pharmacy premises to assess them against its standards. During every inspection GPhC inspectors seek evidence from the pharmacy team that standards relating to the privacy, dignity and confidentiality of patients and the public are met. These standards cover the storage of confidential and private information and the physical and governance arrangements for ensuring patients can have private conversations with pharmacy professionals. Of the 6,814 inspections that have been carried out by the GPhC since November 2013, in 421 (6.2%) cases pharmacy premises were found to have failed one or more of the above three standards: - 274 did not meet standard 1.7 (Information is managed to protect the privacy, dignity and confidentiality of patients and the public who receive pharmacy services); - 174 did not meet standard 3.2 (Premises protect the privacy, dignity and confidentiality of patients and the public who receive pharmacy services); and  - 73 did not meet standard 5.3 (Equipment and facilities are used in a way that protects the privacy and dignity of the patients and the public who receive pharmacy services). When pharmacy premises have not met one or more of the standards, they are required by the GPhC to complete and implement an improvement action plan. In addition, the United Kingdom and Scottish Parliaments recently approved legislation which includes powers to issue an improvement notice or disqualify a pharmacy from the register for a failure to meet the standards. This will improve the GPhC’s ability to protect patients and improve the quality of the pharmacy services they receive. In circumstances where the GPhC finds a registered professional’s fitness to practise is called into question it will investigate and can bring proceedings against that individual.